Departure Dates: November 23 and December 7, 2012, January 4, January 18, February 15, and March 8, 2013 ($2,170); March 15, 2013 ($2,276); or December 21, 2012 ($2,397)

You’ve admired the beauty of Morocco through the iconic lenses of film’s greatest directors and cinematographers. Get ready to start rolling your own camera with this week’s Escape from Encounters Travel. You’ll star in a ten-day guided excursion (length of trip includes flight time) for one person based on double occupancy from Marrakech through the stunning Atlas Mountains and Sahara Desert ($2,170, $2,276, or $2,397 based on departure date).*

Lights, camera, action on a package that includes round-trip flights between JFK and Marrakech international airports and an exciting itinerary that provides for all hotel accommodations, eight breakfasts and eight dinners, all transports and transfers including a 4WD desert jeep safari and 24-hour airport arrival-and-departure services, English-speaking tour guides, and entrance fees to all stated monuments and attractions.

After your first evening in Marrakech, move your set on-location to the iconic Koutoubia Mosque and spend the afternoon exploring the bustling streets surrounding Jemaa el Fna Square.

Drive past the paths of acting legends with a tour through the highest pass of North Africa at Mount Toubkal. Take an epic tour of the dramatic landscape of Ouarzazate where iconic Academy Award-winning films were shot. Then experience star-quality treatment during an overnight in Ouarzazate at the Hotel Kenzi Azghor.

Later, cross-cut fairy-tale chic with wild wonderment with a jaunt along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs before arriving in Boulmane followed by romps amid natural wonders like the Dades Canyon, boasting incredible desert views that fade into the distance outside your Saghro Hotel window.

Far from the city lights, you’ll want to maximize your stargazing potential with a night spent in a traditional Berber camp after a day touring Todra Gorge. Ride through the desert in your 4WD safari jeep, and if you wish, for a truly authentic experience take a camel ride at sunset for an additional fee.

Continue to add sparkle to your sojourn by venturing into Rissani––the birthplace of the Alaouite Dynasty and Morocco’s current royal family—before topping off your visit with a stay in the Palais Asmaa Hotel.

After circling back to Marrakech through the Draa Valley and bounding over the Tizi N’tichka col, capture a final free day in Marrakech, where you’ll hunt for souvenirs in the city’s bustling bazaars, take an aerial shot of your surroundings on a spectacular hot air balloon flight, or bond with your castmates on a quad-bike ride through the desert.

Cut and print: With an epic Escape like this, you’ll have a highlight reel of life-changing moments to watch again and again for years to come.

For additional information, view the Encounters Travel full itinerary.

*Departure dates: November 23 and December 7, 2012, January 4, January 18, February 15, and March 8, 2013 ($2,170); March 15, 2013 ($2,276); or December 21, 2012 ($2,397)

Three Nights in a Superior Room at Tara Angkor Hotel and Two Nights in a Superior Room at RiverFront Hotel with Daily American Buffet Breakfast

Guided Sightseeing Tours

You may be familiar with Western architecture, but Eastern design has an exotic aesthetic all its own. See for yourself with this week’s eight-day Escape to Angkor Wat and Singapore, engineered by Globotours.

Your Escape includes round-trip flights via Singapore Airlines. Depart between September 1 and November 30, 2012 from Houston’s IAH ($2,199), California’s LAX or SFO ($2,199), or New York’s JFK ($2,299). Or, leave between January 7 and March 25, 2013 from IAH ($2,299), LAX or SFO ($2,399), or JFK ($2,549). Round-trip ground transportation between airports, all hotels, and sightseeing destinations and daily American buffet breakfast are included.

Begin your model getaway in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where you’ll spend three nights in a Superior Room at the Tara Angkor Hotel. You’ll trace the history of early Khmer architecture, starting with the Preah Ko, Bakong, and Lolei temples of the the ninth and tenth centuries, then reaching the graceful 11th-century Shiva and Ta Prohm temples.

On your final day in Cambodia, sketch your plans around visiting the ancient city of Angkor. Tour the ruins of the Royal Palace, the Elephant Terraces, and the Leper King Terrace, before spending the afternoon marveling at the famous temple of Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious monument. Its five towers represent the peaks of Mount Meru, the mythical center of the Hindu universe.

Next, travel to Singapore, where you’ll spend two nights in a Superior Room at the Furama RiverFront hotel. Embark on a guided tour of the city, before scaling back your activities and spending the rest of your time at leisure. Modern Singapore swells with new development, but its richly textured past is never far from view if you know where to look.

The Singapore Botanic Gardens blossom with history. “The past settles around you as you wander the vaults of the venerable botanical garden,” says Travel + Leisure, “where century-and-a-half-old banyans rise from buttressed roots, where orchids are trained to grow into through-the-looking-glass archways, and where frangipani trees scatter their sweet-smelling blossoms all over, lending the place an air of floral deshabille.”

Once you’ve seen the wonders of Angkor Wat and Singapore, you’ll look at architecture from a whole new angle. Consider this week’s Escape your blueprint for an awe-inspiring adventure.